16. But the priests fell to the ground, still in their sacred robes. They filled the temple with crying and tears, praying to the supreme God to help them and to change the mind of the one who was wrongly imposing himself.
17. Those who were left in the city were troubled and hurried out, thinking something mysterious was happening.
18. The young girls who had been kept secluded at home rushed out with their mothers. They sprinkled their hair with dust and began to fill the streets with weeping and groaning.
19. Even the young women who had just been adorned for their weddings left the bridal bedrooms that had been prepared for the marriage night. Neglecting all proper modesty, they came together in the city in a wild rush.
20. Mothers and nurses left newborn children here and there, some in houses, some in the streets, and crowded together into the most high temple without looking back.
21. The people who assembled offered all kinds of prayers on account of the evil plot of the king.
22. Some of the bolder citizens weren’t going to put up with his intended plan or fulfill what he had in mind.